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Carroll Stewart Contracting

Scroll down to see just a few of my job pictures.

APARTMENT CONSTRUCTION

REMODEL IN METAL BUILDING

This project was to build an apartment inside of a metal building. The apartment would be as wide as the metal building, 36 feet, and would be 16 foot deep, with storage area on top of the entire apartment.

Customer wanted a full custom kitchen, with Barn Board Doors & Drawers, Barn Board Open Shelving for china, and Barn Board Island on wheels. Barn Board would be used in other areas as well. Kitchen top and Island top would be Custom size Hard Maple Butcher Block.

Also in the design was a full bath and shower, utility area for washer and dryer, dining area, and area for bunkbeds.

Heating and Air Conditioning would be fulfilled with a Heat Pump.

Here is the finished Kitchen. 100+ year old Barnwood was used for Cabinet Doors, Drawer Fronts, and Open Kitchen Shelving.

Custom-matched stain was applied to Cabinet Face Frames, and all trim, sealed with high-tech clear coating.

This island has large polyurethane tread caster wheels,two of which lock for stationary use. Easy to move around. Full length pull-out drawers feature heavy duty extension slides for heavy pans and utensil storage.

Drawer fronts and Back Cover are all 100+ year old Barnwood, with custom stain and high-tech clear finish for durability and cleaning.

HOW TO TREAT NEW HARD MAPLE EDGE-GRAIN BUTCHER BLOCK TOP.

1. Pour a liberal amount of mineral oil on wood and evenly spread it with a clean cloth. Let it soak in for about 15 minutes. Using dry cloth, wipe excess off. Repeat three times.

2. After the mineral oil is applied, wait 24 hours and use the oil/wax paste to condition the oiled surface as needed.

3. Re-apply oil/wax paste every month or so, or as needed.

HOW TO MAKE THE OIL/WAX CONDITIONER:

Warm mineral oil in a saucepan over low heat, and melt a chunk of beeswax in it equal to about one-fifth or one-sixth the volume of the oil. (At high heat, there’s a potential for fire. ) As the wax begins to flake apart and dissolve, stir frequently. When the mixture is blended, pour it into a jar to cool and solidify.

To apply, wipe on an excess of the soft paste, let it dry a bit, then wipe it off. If you want to apply it as a liquid, you can reheat it. Like any mineral oil or wax finish that will take a lot of abuse, this will need to be reapplied often to afford decent moisture protection.

The mineral oil is just plain pure mineral oil you can buy at Wal-Mart.

Westlakes Hardware sells Beeswax. Get the pure stuff, no additives.

Utility Area for Washer and Dryer, with Barnwood Open Shelving above.

Adjustable shelving storage area will come in handy for all kinds of stuff.

One piece tub and shower, with rubbed bronze tub/shower valve and shower head.

Pocket door with rubbed bronze pull looks good, and saves space.

Designing and constructing the Barn Wood pieces for this project really made this Apartment Kitchen. The apartment will be used primarily for overflow guests for Hunting Season, and will fit customer’s needs perfectly.

Vintage Era open Kitchen Shelving really gives this apartment kitchen the feel and look of another time. Bringing to life the design ideas of my customers really makes this project special.

This view looks into the Bunk Bed area from the Kitchen.

Here you see the storage area above the Apartment. Over-sized I-joist ceiling rafters, with T&G 3/4 inch thick, 4×8 flooring for the storage floor makes for a super-strong storage floor.

The railing you see sets in metal brackets, and is removeable for tractor/loader access to the storage area.

Here you see the Barn Board stacked so that air can circulate all around each board, to dry out after cleaning. The dark wood shows the color of the interior side of the Barn Boards. The light gray sides are the exterior sides when the boards were on the Barn.

All boards were scrubbed thoroughly with Dawn dishwashing liquid and plenty of water to rinse, and clean out dirt and everything else from the crevices, holes, and wood grain of the wood.

Working with 100+ year old Barn Wood is an education. This wood consisted mostly of Oak, with some Sycamore, I believe. not sure. All of it was extremely hard, and that is an understatement. Old nails, dirt, mud-dobber nests, and you name it was in and on these boards. There was no rot to speak of, or other damage to these boards. There were no live insects, termites, etc. There *were* old signs of insect infestation, holes, tunnels, etc.

One interesting thing I learned immediately was that after a board was cleaned, and let air dry for a few days, the silver patina that is the «look» of aged barn boards, cannot be finished with a clear coat of varnish, shellac, or any other clear coating. When you apply a coat of clear finish on the Faded Barn Board, the «silver» disappears! It is gone, or worse, darkens beyond recognition.

Another problem is that anywhere you cut the Barn Wood, it has a «New» wood look, that is very different from the old wood surface.

I did devise a system that worked for me that is too elaborate to go into here. And, while you may disagree, the finished product really looks good, even better that the photographs show here.

Barn Boards were sorted, and turned for drying and ease of use.

Another interesting challenge was to stain the white pine trim, birch pocket door, and other wood to coordinate with the finished shade of the Barn Wood.

I did not want the blotchy look of any brand of oil stain. A pre-sealer would not work, because of the dark shade required to come close to matching the faux-patina on the Barn Wood. After some time and experimenting, I came up with a system that you see here on the white pine boards, that has some of the natural tan wood showing through a whitish/gray stain with absolutely no blotching of any kind, and accentuates the white pine grain, and goes beautifully with the finished Barn Wood.